US5897847A - Method for extending the gas lifetime of excimer lasers - Google Patents

Method for extending the gas lifetime of excimer lasers Download PDF

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Publication number
US5897847A
US5897847A US08/114,285 US11428593A US5897847A US 5897847 A US5897847 A US 5897847A US 11428593 A US11428593 A US 11428593A US 5897847 A US5897847 A US 5897847A
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gas
laser
gas mixture
impurity
excimer laser
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Gregory M. Jursich
William A. Von Drasek
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American Air Liquide Inc
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American Air Liquide Inc
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01S—DEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S3/00—Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range
    • H01S3/14—Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range characterised by the material used as the active medium
    • H01S3/22—Gases
    • H01S3/223—Gases the active gas being polyatomic, i.e. containing two or more atoms
    • H01S3/225—Gases the active gas being polyatomic, i.e. containing two or more atoms comprising an excimer or exciplex
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01S—DEVICES USING THE PROCESS OF LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION [LASER] TO AMPLIFY OR GENERATE LIGHT; DEVICES USING STIMULATED EMISSION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN WAVE RANGES OTHER THAN OPTICAL
    • H01S3/00—Lasers, i.e. devices using stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared, visible or ultraviolet wave range
    • H01S3/02—Constructional details
    • H01S3/03—Constructional details of gas laser discharge tubes
    • H01S3/036—Means for obtaining or maintaining the desired gas pressure within the tube, e.g. by gettering, replenishing; Means for circulating the gas, e.g. for equalising the pressure within the tube

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method for extending the gas lifetime of excimer lasers.
  • Excimer lasers represent an extension of laser technology into the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum. Excimer lasers offer the capability for pulsed short ultraviolet wavelength systems with very high peak power.
  • An excimer is a compound that has no stable ground state and exists as a bound molecule only in electronically excited states. Many excimer lasers utilize the noble gases, which generally do not form stable chemical compounds.
  • the krypton fluoride laser is a prime example of an excimer laser. In such a laser, a gas mixture containing krypton and fluorine is irradiated with high energy electrons to produce the metastable excited state of KrF* excimer which is temporarily bound.
  • the molecule dissociates according to the reaction:
  • excimer lasers are generally pulsed devices, with pulse durations on the order of nanoseconds.
  • Excimer lasers are now available commercially. Commercial excimer lasers require gas mixtures consisting of rare gases, such as He, Ne, Ar, Kr or Xe, and halogen donors, such as F 2 , NF 3 or HCl. The particular components of the gas mixture used depend upon the particular lasing transition of interest. XeCl, KrF, ArF and XeF are examples of lasing transitions used today. However, XeCl, KrF and ArF, which operate at 308, 248 and 193 nm wavelengths, respectively, are the most widely used.
  • rare gases such as He, Ne, Ar, Kr or Xe
  • halogen donors such as F 2 , NF 3 or HCl.
  • F 2 , NF 3 or HCl halogen donors
  • the rare gases used in the laser chamber are Kr diluted in He or Ne along with a halogen donor which can be either F 2 or NF 3 .
  • a halogen donor which can be either F 2 or NF 3 .
  • F 2 is used in all commercial excimer lasers today because post-discharge recombination kinetics are more favorable for F 2 in terms of minimizing gas degradation.
  • ArF replaces Kr, and ArF operation is more susceptible to gas degradation.
  • Excimer lasers are unlike any other gas laser as they generally operate with a fixed volume of gas which needs replacing often enough to make it mandatory for the user to either refill the laser chamber or purify and replenish the halogen donor.
  • the need to replenish gas mixtures for excimer lasers is a result of undesirable chemical reactions occurring inside the laser chamber. As a consequence of these reactions, the gas mixture changes during operation of the laser and the laser output decreases. The characteristic feature of such gas degradation is loss of halogen donor and formation of gaseous impurities.
  • improvements in laser design to minimize gas degradation there continues to be strong interest in extending the gas lifetime of excimer lasers. There are two important reasons for this. First, and most importantly, there is a need to minimize downtime of laser operation. Second, there is a need to reduce gas consumption of the expensive rare gases such as Ne, Kr and Xe.
  • a second method involves adding small amounts of halogen donor gas during laser operation. While this approach can effectively replace halogen donor, it does not remove impurities in the gas which limit the useful gas lifetime.
  • cryogenic purification on KrF operation is limited in that the lowest temperature allowable for on-line use is about -180° C. below that at which one begins to reduce sufficient Kr in the gas mixture, which decreases laser output. This results in an inability to remove an important impurity, CF 4 , from the laser chamber, which limits the gas lifetime of KrF operation when cryogenic purification is used.
  • a cryogenic trap can be used at lower temperatures of around about -196° C., which is sufficient to condense out more CF 4 . However, at such lower temperatures, a higher cooling capacity is required from the cryogenic trap.
  • step b) condensing said one or more compounds produced in step a) with refrigeration means, substantially without condensing said one or more rare gases therewith, thereby removing said CF 4 impurity and extending the gas lifetime of the laser.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates the effect of the present gas additive on KrF excimer laser performance.
  • an additional oxidizing gas component such as O 2 , air, or even OF 2
  • an oxidizing gas additive reacts with CF 4 impurity to form other lower vapor pressure carbon species which can be effectively removed by a cryogenic trap.
  • O 2 may also function as an impurity which can limit the gas lifetime of the excimer laser with cryogenic purification.
  • small amounts of CF 4 may be added which, through similar reactions, form gaseous impurities which are easily removed by a cryogenic trap.
  • the present invention provides, in part, a method for extending the gas lifetime of an excimer laser by removing CF 4 impurity, which entails:
  • step b) condensing said one or more compounds produced in step a) with refrigeration means, substantially without condensing said one or more rare gases therewith, thereby removing said CF 4 impurity from the excimer laser and extending the gas lifetime thereof.
  • the present invention also provides, in part, a method for extending the gas lifetime of an excimer laser by removing O 2 impurity, which entails:
  • step b) condensing the one or more compounds produced in step a) with refrigeration means, substantially without condensing the one or more rare gases therewith, thereby removing the O 2 impurity from the excimer laser and extending the gas lifetime thereof.
  • the difficulty of removing CF 4 impurity from excimer gas mixtures results from the relatively high vapor pressure of CF 4 relative to the rare gases Kr and Xe, and even Ar, as well as the chemical inertness of CF 4 .
  • a high energy source such as a plasma or electrical discharge is used to deposit sufficient energy into the gas mixture to allow reaction between CF 4 and the oxidizing gas additive.
  • the resulting products typically CO 2 and COF 2 , can then easily be cryogenically removed without removing the rare gas.
  • the source of plasma can be the electric discharge in the laser, itself, or it can be a plasma or a discharge system located external to the laser chamber.
  • the laser gas mixture circulates through the plasma system and cryogenic trap prior to returning to the laser chamber.
  • the source of the oxidizing gas may be supplied as gaseous air, O 2 or NO or even OF 2 , however either O 2 or air are preferred.
  • the oxidizing additive may also be added to the laser gas mixture by means of chemical or plasma deterioration of solid materials containing oxygen or oxygen atoms, or from permeation or surface desorption of materials containing oxygen or oxygen atoms.
  • a permeation source of oxidizer may be used whereby a commercially available permeation tube is placed on the gas supply line of the laser.
  • Such devices comprise a reservoir of gas or liquid, such as O 2 or another oxidizer, behind a permeable membrane. As another gas flows across the membrane external to the reservoir, the material in the reservoir permeates through the membrane and enters into the gas flow. In this case, the oxidizer gas would be added to the flow of gas used in filling the laser vessel with its nominal gas constituents.
  • a reactive source of oxidizer which decomposes by chemical or plasma deterioration
  • metal oxide compounds such as Al 2 O 3
  • a small amount of the metal oxide compound is placed inside the gas supply line of the laser.
  • the laser is filled with the fluorine mixture, a portion of the F 2 will react with the metal oxide to form oxygen in the gas stream and a non-volatile metal fluoride.
  • the necessary control over the amount of oxidizer added is effected by adjusting the flow rate of the gas stream, and the amount of exposed surface area.
  • any metal oxide may be used as long as it is capable of reacting with fluorine to produce oxygen gas.
  • Such compounds are well known to those skilled in the art.
  • the present invention is quite advantageous as the gas lifetime of excimer lasers can be extended without resorting to expensive metal getter purification methodologies or complex gas handling. While the concept of using an oxidizing gas additive to extend excimer gas laser operation has proven advantageous, such a methodology may also be applied to other processes in which CF 4 must be removed from rare gases, such as Xe, Kr or Ar or addition of CF 4 for removal of O 2 from rare gases or, more advantageously, from F 2 , itself.
  • the present invention may be used to improve the gas lifetime of excimer lasers generally.
  • the present invention is particularly advantageous for extending the gas lifetime of XeF, KrF and ArF excimer lasers.
  • the present invention is most advantageous in extending the gas lifetime of KrF excimer lasers due to the increased difficulty of removing CF 4 with the cryogenic trap without removing KBr.
  • ArF excimer lasers more of the CF 4 can be removed by a cryogenic trap due to the low cryogenic trap temperatures for ArF systems.
  • trap temperatures of not less than -150° C. in order to avoid removal of Xe. This results in a relatively large amount of unremoved CF 4 which remains in the lasing gases.
  • the present invention may also be utilized in cases where the gas lifetime limiting impurity is O 2 , instead of CF 4 .
  • CF 4 may be used to consume O 2 , to form other impurities which can be cryogenically trapped out.
  • O 2 or CF 4 is the limiting impurity will depend upon the construction materials used in the laser. Given the common materials used in these lasers, CF 4 , and not O 2 , is the impurity which most commonly limits the gas lifetime of the laser.
  • the present invention is also advantageous in that the reaction between the oxidizing gas additive and CF 4 leads to the formation of additional F 2 which is the active halogen donor in lasers such as XeF, KrF or ArF lasers.
  • F 2 the active halogen donor in lasers
  • CF 4 and O 2 after sufficient exposure to discharge or plasma can generate appreciable amounts of F 2 .
  • this is commonly done in semiconductor etching processes where CF 4 and O 2 plasma is used, which generates F 2 and F atoms to etch silicon.
  • the oxidizing gas additive used to reduce CF 4 accumulation in the excimer laser operating with cryogenic purification must be present in small amounts as too much additive will decrease laser power to a level which is unacceptable for the user. Yet, to be effective in consuming CF 4 , there must be a comparable amount of oxidizing gas additive present. Essentially, two molecules of O 2 will react with three molecules of CF 4 . However, the precise stoichiometry will depend upon the operating conditions employed.
  • a sufficient amount of either oxidizing gas additive or CF 4 be used to remove either CF 4 or O 2 , respectively.
  • the amount used must not be such so as to cause an unacceptable loss in laser output.
  • the acceptable level of power loss will be determined by the particular application and the power of the laser being used.
  • the preferred concentration range of O 2 is about 50 to 350 ppm, even more preferably about 100 to 300 ppm, provided a 30% power loss is acceptable, in exchange for more constant output power.
  • CF 4 CF 4
  • the preferred concentration is about 50 to 700 ppm of CF 4 , with a more preferred amount of about 100 to 600 ppm present for the same 30% power loss limit.
  • CF 4 is used to consume excess O 2
  • the oxidizing gas is used to consume excess CF 4
  • the exact optimum concentration needed for the additive depends on the materials of laser construction, particularly its specific susceptibility to the oxidizing gas and CF 4 , as well as the efficiency of the cryogenic trap used and the rate of gas circulation through the trap.
  • the artisan will determine the acceptable level of power loss. This is then used, in turn, to ascertain the amount of oxidizing gas additive or CF 4 which should be used in order to effectively remove CF 4 or O 2 , respectively.
  • the above examples of preferred ranges of O 2 as the oxidizing gas and CF 4 concentration are provided in conjunction with a 30% power loss.
  • this is only for purposes of illustration and is by no means intended to be limitative.
  • the artisan may determine, depending upon the intended use, that only a 10% or 20% power loss for the KrF laser is acceptable. Likewise, a 40% power loss may be acceptable. In any event, the determination of acceptable power loss is within the skill of the artisan.
  • the source of the gas additive is the oxidizing as or CF 4
  • the simplest source is a gas source external to the laser chamber.
  • a gas source may also be provided from chemical or discharge reactions from within the laser or by using permeable materials which release O 2 , for example, or CF 4 . Any of these gas sources may be used as long as the concentration tolerance is not in excess following the above guidelines.
  • the excimer laser is operated at a lasing gas pressure of from about 1 atm. to about 9 atm. pressure. It is preferred, however, that a pressure be used which is in excess of 1 atm. to up to about 4 atm., particularly for KrF and ArF excimer lasers.
  • the oxidizing gas additive may be added directly to the excimer laser or its circulation system from an external source.
  • cryogenic trap As refrigeration means, a commercially available cryogenic trap can be used. However, other refrigeration means may also be used. For example, it is well known that cryogenic temperatures can be attained with commercially available refrigerator systems operating by the expansion and compression of helium. Such a refrigeration system may be used instead of a cryogenic trap utilizing a cryogenic trap.
  • a high energy source such as a plasma or electrical discharge is used to deposit sufficient energy into the gas mixture to promote reaction between CF 4 and the oxidizing gas mixture.
  • the resulting products such as CO 2 and COF 2 , are cryogenically removed without removing rare gas.
  • the source of plasma can be the electric discharge in the laser, itself, or it can be a plasma or a discharge system located external to the laser chamber.
  • the oxidizing gas additive may be added directly to the laser gas mixture from an external source if a commercially available laser is used, it is also possible to accomplish this by means of chemical or plasma deterioration of solid materials containing oxygen or oxygen atoms. Also, the oxidizing gas additive may be added by means of permeation or surface desorption of materials containing oxygen or oxygen atoms.
  • a commercially available excimer laser can be modified to accomplish this result.
  • Suitable substances which are known to be subject to chemical or plasma deterioration or permeation or surface desorption may be included inside the lasing chamber, in the circulation system or even in the gas delivery system.
  • the CF 4 may be added from an external source.
  • the power of the laser decreases at the slowest rate when the gas additive is present.
  • the rate of power loss is reduced by a factor of 2, when the O 2 is present with cryogenic purification (3) as compared to where purification is used without O 2 (2).
  • the O 2 additive in the above example was added to the laser chamber prior to operation. However, it may also be added in small amounts, either continuously or in discreet steps, during the operation of the laser. As long as the O 2 is added in such a way the O 2 concentration in the laser does not increase beyond the point where the O 2 , itself, lowers the laser output below the acceptable level for the user, any means of introducing the additive may be used. For example, if the acceptable level were 40% power loss, the maximum allowable O 2 concentration would be several hundred ppm. The actual limiting value would depend on the details of the laser construction and the requirements of the laser application.
  • the laser power decreases only about 5% even after almost 5 hours of operation at 200 Hz.
  • the gas lifetime of excimer lasers can be extended to a surprising extent without using expensive metal getter systems and molecular sieves.
  • oxidizing gas additives other than O 2 such as air, or even OF 2 , or mixture thereof
  • an amount of gas additive is used such that approximately the same amounts of oxygen is present as disclosed herein.
  • an amount of gas additive is used such that approximately the same amounts of oxygen is present as disclosed herein.
  • about twice as much OF 2 should be used as compared to O 2 , or about five times as much air should be used.
  • oxidizing gas additives or CF 4 used in accordance with the present invention may be easily obtained from a variety of commercial sources.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
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  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
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US08/114,285 1991-03-06 1993-09-01 Method for extending the gas lifetime of excimer lasers Expired - Fee Related US5897847A (en)

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EP (1) EP0527986B1 (fr)
JP (1) JP3242918B2 (fr)
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DE (1) DE69200250T2 (fr)
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Cited By (16)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6195372B1 (en) * 1997-08-19 2001-02-27 David C. Brown Cryogenically-cooled solid-state lasers
WO2001066272A1 (fr) * 2000-03-06 2001-09-13 Cymer, Inc. Passivation de chambre a decharge laser par plasma
US6456643B1 (en) 1999-03-31 2002-09-24 Lambda Physik Ag Surface preionization for gas lasers
US20020191661A1 (en) * 2000-06-09 2002-12-19 Morton Richard G. High rep-rate laser with improved electrodes
WO2003023910A3 (fr) * 2001-09-13 2003-05-30 Cymer Inc Laser a electrodes ameliorees a taux eleve de repetition
US6618422B2 (en) 1999-02-10 2003-09-09 Lambda Physik Ag Preionization arrangement for a gas laser
US6671302B2 (en) 2000-08-11 2003-12-30 Lambda Physik Ag Device for self-initiated UV pre-ionization of a repetitively pulsed gas laser
US20040004986A1 (en) * 2002-06-03 2004-01-08 Cherne Larry W. Carbon dioxide laser resonator gas
US6757315B1 (en) 1999-02-10 2004-06-29 Lambda Physik Ag Corona preionization assembly for a gas laser
US20050047471A1 (en) * 2002-03-22 2005-03-03 Steiger Thomas D. Halogen gas discharge laser electrodes
US20050191259A1 (en) * 2004-02-13 2005-09-01 Sue Feng Composition for coating keratin fibers, comprising at least one tacky microcrystalline wax and fibers
US20060274809A1 (en) * 2001-09-13 2006-12-07 Steiger Thomas D Cathodes for fluorine gas discharge lasers
US20060291517A1 (en) * 2005-06-27 2006-12-28 Cymer, Inc. High pulse repetition rate gas discharge laser
US20070071058A1 (en) * 2005-09-29 2007-03-29 Cymer, Inc. Gas discharge laser system electrodes and power supply for delivering electrical energy to same
US20070071047A1 (en) * 2005-09-29 2007-03-29 Cymer, Inc. 6K pulse repetition rate and above gas discharge laser system solid state pulse power system improvements
US20070268944A1 (en) * 2006-05-22 2007-11-22 Frank Voss Gas purification in an excimer laser using a stirling cycle cooler

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5307364A (en) * 1993-05-24 1994-04-26 Spectra Gases, Inc. Addition of oxygen to a gas mix for use in an excimer laser
JP6457013B2 (ja) * 2017-05-17 2019-01-23 日本エア・リキード株式会社 ガスリサイクル機能を有するエキシマレーザ発振装置

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Cited By (29)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6195372B1 (en) * 1997-08-19 2001-02-27 David C. Brown Cryogenically-cooled solid-state lasers
US6757315B1 (en) 1999-02-10 2004-06-29 Lambda Physik Ag Corona preionization assembly for a gas laser
US6618422B2 (en) 1999-02-10 2003-09-09 Lambda Physik Ag Preionization arrangement for a gas laser
US6650679B1 (en) 1999-02-10 2003-11-18 Lambda Physik Ag Preionization arrangement for gas laser
US6456643B1 (en) 1999-03-31 2002-09-24 Lambda Physik Ag Surface preionization for gas lasers
WO2001066272A1 (fr) * 2000-03-06 2001-09-13 Cymer, Inc. Passivation de chambre a decharge laser par plasma
US6914927B2 (en) 2000-03-06 2005-07-05 Cymer, Inc. Laser discharge chamber passivation by plasma
US6644324B1 (en) 2000-03-06 2003-11-11 Cymer, Inc. Laser discharge chamber passivation by plasma
US6690706B2 (en) * 2000-06-09 2004-02-10 Cymer, Inc. High rep-rate laser with improved electrodes
US20020191661A1 (en) * 2000-06-09 2002-12-19 Morton Richard G. High rep-rate laser with improved electrodes
US6671302B2 (en) 2000-08-11 2003-12-30 Lambda Physik Ag Device for self-initiated UV pre-ionization of a repetitively pulsed gas laser
WO2003023910A3 (fr) * 2001-09-13 2003-05-30 Cymer Inc Laser a electrodes ameliorees a taux eleve de repetition
US20060274809A1 (en) * 2001-09-13 2006-12-07 Steiger Thomas D Cathodes for fluorine gas discharge lasers
KR100940782B1 (ko) * 2001-09-13 2010-02-11 사이머 인코포레이티드 향상된 전극을 구비한 고반복률 레이저
US7535948B2 (en) 2001-09-13 2009-05-19 Cymer, Inc. Cathodes for fluorine gas discharge lasers
US7301980B2 (en) 2002-03-22 2007-11-27 Cymer, Inc. Halogen gas discharge laser electrodes
US20050047471A1 (en) * 2002-03-22 2005-03-03 Steiger Thomas D. Halogen gas discharge laser electrodes
US20040004986A1 (en) * 2002-06-03 2004-01-08 Cherne Larry W. Carbon dioxide laser resonator gas
US6985507B2 (en) 2002-06-03 2006-01-10 Praxair Technology, Inc. Carbon dioxide laser resonator gas
US7058108B1 (en) 2002-06-03 2006-06-06 Praxair Technology, Inc. Carbon dioxide laser resonator gas
US20050191259A1 (en) * 2004-02-13 2005-09-01 Sue Feng Composition for coating keratin fibers, comprising at least one tacky microcrystalline wax and fibers
US7633989B2 (en) 2005-06-27 2009-12-15 Cymer, Inc. High pulse repetition rate gas discharge laser
US20060291517A1 (en) * 2005-06-27 2006-12-28 Cymer, Inc. High pulse repetition rate gas discharge laser
US9620920B2 (en) 2005-06-27 2017-04-11 Cymer, Llc High pulse repetition rate gas discharge laser
US20070071047A1 (en) * 2005-09-29 2007-03-29 Cymer, Inc. 6K pulse repetition rate and above gas discharge laser system solid state pulse power system improvements
US20070071058A1 (en) * 2005-09-29 2007-03-29 Cymer, Inc. Gas discharge laser system electrodes and power supply for delivering electrical energy to same
US20090238225A1 (en) * 2005-09-29 2009-09-24 Cymer, Inc. 6K pulse repetition rate and above gas discharge laser system solid state pulse power system improvements
US7706424B2 (en) 2005-09-29 2010-04-27 Cymer, Inc. Gas discharge laser system electrodes and power supply for delivering electrical energy to same
US20070268944A1 (en) * 2006-05-22 2007-11-22 Frank Voss Gas purification in an excimer laser using a stirling cycle cooler

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WO1992016036A1 (fr) 1992-09-17
EP0527986B1 (fr) 1994-07-20
DE69200250D1 (de) 1994-08-25
CA2082405A1 (fr) 1992-09-07
EP0527986A1 (fr) 1993-02-24
JP3242918B2 (ja) 2001-12-25
CA2082405C (fr) 2004-09-28
JPH06500433A (ja) 1994-01-13
DE69200250T2 (de) 1994-10-27
ES2059216T3 (es) 1994-11-01

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